Perhaps we should call 911 after crime is fully committed

Reading through the Opinions section of the newspaper on Monday, July 27, I came across a story of how a reader felt that we should be reducing our police force. His reasoning behind this was that “Police do not prevent crimes, they respond to them after they have happened.” At casual reading, one might buy into this.

Yet, as you spend a few minutes thinking about this statement, you realize just how ridiculous it is. Just looking back over the last two weeks, it has been reported several times that an officer recognized a driver with warrants for his arrest. A pursuit followed and future crimes were prevented. Then one must think about response time. As crimes or emergencies are reported in progress, less officers will mean an increase in the response time. The mere presence of the police force helps deter crime. How many times have you been driving down the road, only to check your speed when you see a cop? The safety of our officers is also at stake.

They need to have the proper amount of officers available to respond to crimes. There is no way to know what they will be dealing with when a call is received. So, if one is going to sit back and accept the philosophy that we can cut the police force because they only respond to crimes; the next time you need their assistance, be sure not to dial 911 until after the crime is fully committed. Otherwise, based on your job description, they would not be doing their job if they showed up while the crime could still be prevented.

Scott McAllasterMantecaJuly 27, 2009

Manteca in denialover flooding

Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

I retired from the Department of Water Resources, Division of Flood Management in 2002. I helped out in the Flood Operations Center in 1997. I’m sad to see that Manteca remains in denial that much of the proposed development around town, whether protected by levees or not, is at risk of flooding by combinations of sea level rise, maintenance oversights, and the increased storm severity that is predicted by global climate change models.

It would be worth looking into building an elevated highway or three to high ground so that people in these new neighborhoods have a chance to evacuate when, not if, Manteca next floods.